New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox is the Rodney Dangerfield of the NHL. He gets no respect. Okay, he gets some respect, but nothing like the love bestowed on Cale Makar and Victor Hedman.
Fox is a great hockey player. The New York Rangers defenseman won the Norris Trophy last season in only his second year in the NHL. He finished second in scoring among defensemen with 47 points, one behind Edmonton’s Tyson Barrie. He had 42 assists, most on the Rangers and most by a blueliner in the NHL, a number that was good for sixth among all skaters in the NHL.
He played almost 25 minutes a game and had a plus/minus rating of +19. He did all of that while being matched up with the opposition’s top line every game.
The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association journalists who voted knew that he was best. He had 40 first place votes to 31 for Cale Makar and 22 for Victor Hedman. He finished with almost one hundred more points in the voting than second place Makar.
Yes, he is consistently picked behind Makar when it comes to rating the top defensemen in the NHL. Sure, Makar won the Calder Trophy over Fox two seasons ago, but how can the reigning Norris Trophy winner not be rated as the best blueliner in the league?
No respect
In the Hockey News 2021-22 Yearbook they published the results of a poll of fans predicting various award winners this season. When it came to the Norris Trophy 62% of the fans picked Cale Makar to win the award. Victor Hedman was second with 24% of the vote. Dougie Hamilton was third with 4% and Fox was fourth with 3%. Okay, when it comes to the fans, it’s a popularity contest. Forget them.
What about the professionals? In the Hockey News, Ryan Kennedy ranked the top 50 players in the NHL. We have to give him kudos for ranking Adam Fox as the sixth best player in the league and he predicted that he will be even better this season. That said, he ranked Cale Makar as the fifth best player in the league.
In NHL.com’s debate over the best defensemen in the league, there was more love for Makar than Fox with three writers picking Makar as best to only one for Fox. One writer even went so far as to say “Had Makar not been limited to 44 games and performed at the same level, he likely would have won the Norris hands down. ” Ouch.
NHL.com is rolling out their list of the top 50 players in the NHL and have unveiled numbers 10-50 so far. Where has Adam Fox landed? He’s number 22 on the list, just three spots ahead of Roman Josi. Meanwhile, Cale Makar came in at 13th overall and we haven’t see Victor Hedman’s name meaning he is in the unrevealed top 10.
Fox even falls behind when it comes to fantasy hockey. On nhl.com’s list of top 50 fantasy defensemen, once again it’s Makar first, Hedman second and Fox third. On their list of the top 250 players in the NHL, Makar is 14th, Hedman is 19th and Fox is 22nd.
The FantasyPros site has Fox ranked fourth behind Makar, John Carlson and Hedman according to a panel of their experts. In the Hockey News mock fantasy draft, they had Makar going one pick before Fox as the first two defensemen selected.
Why is this happening?
When it comes to ranking players, there will always be room for disagreement. However, considering the results, it’s hard to believe that no one picked Fox as the best defenseman in the NHL.
Victor Hedman has been a top blueliner in the NHL for years and has two Stanley Cup rings to show for it. Based on past performance, longevity and playoff results, he deserves the accolades.
Cale Makar became the darling of the hockey experts when he joined the Avalanche for 10 playoffs games right out of college in 2019. He then followed that up by winning the Calder Trophy as top rookie the following season. His offensive numbers have been impressive and he has already played in 35 playoff games.
Adam Fox came into the NHL as an unheralded rookie two seasons ago and posted fine numbers, but was overshadowed offensively by Tony DeAngelo. He came into his own last season as the power play quarterback and top pair defenseman, bypassing Jacob Trouba. Still, he has not played a single playoff game (the Stanley Cup Qualifier doesn’t count) and that is hockey’s biggest stage.
Still, should Adam Fox be the Rodney Dangerfield of NHL defenseman? Does he deserve more respect for his Norris Trophy 2020-21 season? Ranger fans know that he should.
And maybe the question should be “What does Adam Fox have that Cale Makar doesn’t?” There’s a simple answer…a Norris Trophy.
All Fox has to do to prove the doubters wrong is to have an even better season. Is there anyone who watches Ranger games regularly who doesn’t believe that he can do that? With the Blueshirts poised to contend for a playoff spot, you can be sure that Fox will do his best to show that last season was no fluke. We’re lucky to have him.